


The Street Rat of Hogwarts

by TheInsaneM



Series: Street Rat [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, More characters coming - Freeform, More tags coming, mentions of abuse, not shown
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 17:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17985809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheInsaneM/pseuds/TheInsaneM
Summary: Andy Jeristone is a witch who grew up as a Muggle. The first thing she learns - she has an ability that few others do - Truesight. As she stumbles her way through her first year at Hogwarts, she makes good friends and interesting enemies, all the while she is trying to figure out how to work her powers.





	The Street Rat of Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is from Snape's POV, but the rest of them will be from Andy's. I promise.

It was a dry and hot July in 1989 London, which made Severus Snape’s dark Muggle business suit very uncomfortable. He loathed this part of his job, but it usually wasn’t too miserable, so long as he got it done early enough. As a Head of House at Hogwarts, he was required to introduce Muggle families and give the letter to one-quarter of the Muggle-born students on the yearly list, preferably long before mid-July. Thankfully, this was his last student: Miss Andrea Jeristone, of the London Borough of Hackney, England.

London was simultaneously one of his favorite and least favorite places to make a house visit to a Muggle-born. On the one hand, Diagon Alley was extremely close. On the other hand, London was very busy, especially in the middle of the day, and trying to drive a car was almost as impossible as walking around in a heavy and dark business suit during the summer surrounded by a large crowd of people.

As he got closer to the address he needed to visit, he grew more concerned that his suit would wind up being not only uncomfortable, but a detriment to meeting this family - the run-down flats he was heading towards would likely house people who would grow suspicious of a mysterious man in a suit asking to talk to them and their child.

Still, there was little he could do now, given that he had already drawn the gaze of several locals who were eying him suspiciously. He glowered at them until they dropped their stares.

Annoyed and sweaty, Snape found himself staring at a faded 74 on an old flat door. He knocked and waited.

He waited two minutes before he knocked again.

The door barely opened, just enough for a bushy-haired little girl to block the entrance. The girl was small and dark-skinned, with big eyes she squinted through up at him. She looked too small to be the student - she hardly looked like she was eight, not eleven - though he got the uncomfortable feeling that this may be precisely who he was looking for.

“Wha’ you here for?” she asked, suspicion laced in her high voice.

“My name is Professor Severus Snape, and I am here to speak with Miss Andrea Jeristone and her family.”

“Whatchu wan’ talk to her about?”

Maybe he was wrong - this child could be a younger sister to the Muggle-born. Still, something was off. Would an eleven-year-old girl really think to talk about herself in the third person to throw someone off her trail, or is that simply something he would do?

“She qualifies to go to a special school.”

“Can’t afford it,” she said suddenly, starting to close the door.

“There is a program to help with that.”

She stopped closing the door. “What’s the program called?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s called the Hogwarts Help Initiative, or HHI. Miss Jeristone would have the first three years of tuition and supplies paid for, but starting in her third year, she would start working on campus to pay for her tuition, and she would have a set budget for her supplies that is estimated to cover half of the materials.”

“Out of wha’, eight years?”

“Seven.”

She paused, pursing her lips and thinking - a strange and unfamiliar expression for someone so young, especially in Snape’s current field of work.

“Earlier you said it was a ‘special school.’ Wha’ kinda ‘special school’ is it?”

He looked around conspicuously, to wordlessly tell her that he didn’t want to be heard. “Perhaps I should talk with you, Miss Jeristone, and the rest of your family inside.”

She stared at him again with squinted eyes, then - “Alrigh’. But you gotta be quiet - me dad’s asleep, an’ ‘e won’t be ‘appy if we wake ‘im up.” She opened the door fully, turning and walking inside.

The first thing to hit Snape was the smell - the entire flat smelt of stale beer, burned cigarettes, and just general odor. Immediately to his right, there was a beat-up brown-fabric sofa with a large, passed out man on it, snoring loudly. Instantly, he was furious at this man. At best, he was neglectful, but more likely - given what the girl had said - he was abusive.

The girl had walked straight ahead to a joint dining room and kitchen, where she was - quietly - bustling around to prepare tea.

Snape turned and shut the door softly, then made his way to the kitchen table. He shifted a stack of what looked like newspapers from a chair to the table, setting it between a crowbar and what looked like stacks of makeshift gambling chips.

“You wan’ a cuppa?” she asked, seeming to remember manners.

“No.” He looked over at her as she made herself tea, now concerned for her. Subtly, he looked for anything - any bruises or markings to indicate that she was being physically abused. He found nothing.

He decided to just make it easier on himself - he reached out to brush her mind, using Legilimency to determine who she was. Instead, he found a wall of Occlumency - thin and fragile, likely easily broken, but it was there. If he attacked it, she would know he tried to get into her mind, and that wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have.

Now he was reconsidering. Either this was a young, powerful Muggle-born girl with a natural talent for Occlumency, or this was someone posing as a little girl who wasn’t particularly talented at the art. His instinct was towards the former, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility of a not-so accomplished Occlumens who had taken Polyjuice.

She sat down at the table, setting her tea down and completely ignoring it to stare at him, not saying a word. Silently, he handed her the letter, deciding that her reaction would tell him if she was truly Andrea Jeristone.

“Wha’ makes you think I’m her?”

That confirmed it for him. “What you just said. I never said ‘Here’s your letter’ or anything similar to that. I simply handed it to you - next time, perhaps you should go with something a little less leading - maybe ‘Do you want me to give it to her?’ would further the illusion.”

She stared at him for a few moments longer, then she flipped the letter and opened it. It took her a few minutes to read it before she glanced over the other page full of supplies. “Witchcraft and Wizardry? Magic, then?”

“Yes.”

“Prove it.”

He let his wand slide to his hand from his holster, pointed it at the crowbar, and Transfigured it to a grass snake. After a moment, he Transfigured it back.

Her jaw dropped before she quickly regained her composure. “Okay. Where do I get the supplies?”

“A place called Diagon Alley, off of Charing Cross Road. I would escort you and your family there. Usually, I attempt to get you there to buy your materials the same day you’re introduced to Hogwarts, however…”

They both glanced over at the snoring man on the sofa.

“’E wouldn’t come if ’e were awake, if tha’ ’elps.”

Snape looked her over, considering. “All I need is a signature from a parent or guardian on the HHI form to claim that the yearly household income is below £15,000 before the end of the month. We can schedule a day for going to Diagon Alley to buy your supplies with the amount provided by the program after you have the signature.”

“Can you do sometime this week? Thursday at the same time?”

“Yes.”

* * *

Thursday it was, of course, raining. It wasn’t pouring - more like a medium drizzle - but it was just Snape’s luck that he was once again wearing a nice business suit and walking about in the Muggle world. He decided it was well worth it to detour into an alley to conjure himself an umbrella since he couldn’t use a charm to keep himself dry.

When he approached the building, he saw that Andrea Jeristone was already waiting outside, her nappy hair hardly touched by the rain. He made sure she was covered by the umbrella before he asked, “Do you have the form signed, Miss Jeristone?” She nodded and pulled the form and her letter out from underneath her shirt, and she handed him the HHI form. He glanced it over: she had clearly filled it out, based on the handwriting, but the signature wasn’t in the same handwriting - at least not obviously - so he accepted it and placed it in his coat’s interior pocket.

He glanced her over once again to see if he could see anything that could indicate that she was injured in the past few days, but he saw nothing. That done, he simply started walking, and she followed.

Snape was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t attempt to start talking to him - she stayed quiet, but looked around at the different road signs and kept an eye on the people who were walking as if to memorize where they were heading.

It was just typical that he was escorting her from Hackney, where the Underground didn’t extend to. In a traditional situation, he would be forced to escort the student and their family purely the Muggle way, but since the Muggle way right now would likely take several hours, he decided against it. The Knight Bus certainly wasn’t his favorite way to travel, but it was worth it if he didn’t have to walk in the rain and hold up this umbrella.

At a point fifteen minutes later, when there was nearly no one near them, Snape stopped and pulled out his wand, sticking it out towards the street. The girl watched in silence, slightly confused if he was going by her expression. The massive, three-decker purple bus swept up almost impossibly fast, screeching to a stop directly in front of them. The doors opened and a young boy - likely early twenties - hopped out and started the Knight Bus spiel. “Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Ritchie Flume, and I will be your conductor this fine afternoon. Oh, it’s raining - better come on in then. Come on, come on.”

Snape lowered his umbrella and pushed Miss Jeristone to get in, with him following her right behind. Hardly looking at the conductor, he asked, “How much to get to the Leaky Cauldron for the two of us?”

“Well, that’s hardly anything - four Sickles for the two of you, but for an extra two Sickles you can get some hot chocolate, and for an extra four you can get a water bottle and a toothbrush in the color of your choice.”

He handed Ritchie Flume the four Sickles, then led Jeristone to the first two seats he could find. Snape was glad they didn’t have the beds up this time - they got in the way much too often, and they would sometimes keep them up throughout the day.

The seats they found weren’t far back, and the girl had hardly any time to look around before the bus started with a loud BANG. Everyone lurched, but she was the only one to be surprised by it. An older woman sitting across from them hardly looked up from the _Daily Prophet_ she was reading.

In less than a minute, the Knight Bus jerked to a stop on Charing Cross Road. Snape stood, with the girl also standing quickly, and the two got off the bus. As soon as the bus shot off away from them, Snape heard Jeristone let out a breath - as if she’d been holding it. He decided to bring it up later, after they had gotten the supplies - something he had already been planning on doing.

As soon as she entered the Leaky Cauldron, she stumbled, quickly catching herself. He raised an eyebrow at her, slowly getting more concerned - perhaps she was hiding something that had happened. It could just be that she was clumsy, but with everything else, he decided not to discount it as nothing. As soon as she recovered, she was looking around, though not in awe. She looked like she was scanning the entire area - taking note of tables, chairs, and exits, as well as the people in the pub.

He had learned long ago that attempting to intervene in a situation like this would not go well unless he had more information, which would require talking to the girl. Snape was planning on doing so after getting her supplies, with all that was happening now being added to his mental list of what needed to be talked about.

He swept through the pub, once again with Jeristone on his tail, and people mostly ignored him and the girl just as he ignored them. Going out the back door, towards the brick wall, he once again pulled out his wand. He glanced over his shoulder to see that Jeristone was watching - which she was, very intently - and he tapped the correct brick three times.

The wall opened up into an archway, and for the first time, he saw her eyes widen in wonder. When she looked around this time, it was in awe. Suddenly, she stumbled again, leaning up against the brick archway.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded, taking a steadying breath and then standing up straight, letting go of the wall. Snape raised an eyebrow, then started walking down the alley, setting a rather slow pace.

“Um, Professor?” This was the first time she had spoken to him today, and he noticed that her voice was scratchy, as if she hadn’t been talking for the last couple of days.

He turned his head to show that he was listening.

“Wha’s a Sickle?”

He almost smiled from the simplicity of the question. “It’s a form of wizarding money. There are three types - bronze Knuts, silver Sickles, and golden Galleons. There are twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, seventeen Sickles to a Galleon. A Galleon is worth about £5.”

Now she wasn’t looking around. She was quickly muttering the conversions under her breath, like she was trying to memorize them.

After a moment, to allow her to do her best to memorize the values of the coins, Snape said, “You will have two hundred Galleons to purchase all of your supplies, including a trunk - which should be listed, though it is not. I recommend going to buy the wand first. It varies in price, and that could determine what you’re able to buy afterward. Most things you can buy second-hand - a wand is not one of them.”

Her eyes widened. “Does it really cost two ’undred Galleons ta cop all the supplies for Hogwarts?”

“No. If you were to get all brand new supplies, or the higher end types - crystal phials instead of glass, for example - it would likely cost more. If you buy everything second-hand, and you’re smart about it, you can get all the supplies and have some left over.”

“Bloody hell.”

“You _will_ watch your language, both at Hogwarts and right now.”

“Righ’. Sorry, Professor.”

“The two hundred Galleons is for your first year only - after that, you receive a hundred, as you already have half of the necessary supplies, such as your cauldron and trunk, and then you’ll receive fifty starting in your third year, as, at that point, you are to pay for approximately half of your yearly supplies.”

“Okay.”

There was a brief moment before Snape said, “Now, unless you want to go somewhere else first, we’re heading towards Ollivanders, the wand shop.”

Jeristone nodded and said, “Sounds good.”

The rest of the walk to Ollivanders was quiet, the rain slowing down to a sprinkle. It was interesting to have a student with him who wasn’t asking thousands of questions - so far she had only asked the one, and it was a reasonable question. She certainly seemed to be getting better - she hadn’t stumbled since the archway, and she was back to looking around at everything, though she kept returning her gaze to Gringotts.

Ollivanders was just as it always was; narrow, shabby, and very dusty. As soon as it came into sight, Jeristone stopped looking around. She was focused on the shop, squinting at the peeling golden letters above the door as they got closer.

They opened the door and a small bell tinkled. Jeristone looked around for it, but she clearly found nothing. The dust in the room was settled on everything, from the thin wand-boxes that were piled to the ceiling to the spindly chair in the corner. Snape had always felt the soft magic that was everywhere here - more so than even in most places in Hogwarts. He knew that most didn’t, so he kept the feeling to himself.

Ollivander came from the shadows, suddenly saying, “Good afternoon.”

Jeristone jumped, tucking in on herself. Ollivander got closer to her, then said, “A Muggle-born? Always interesting, always…”

“Actually, I fink me mum was a witch. I never knew ’er, but me dad said I did strange fings like her.”

Ollivander stared at her, unblinking. “Even more interesting, then. Muggle-raised. Have you any idea what your mother’s name was? No? Ah, a shame. Did you come with - ah, hello there! Professor Severus Snape - acacia and phoenix feather, twelve inches, neat and rather rigid, wasn’t it?”

Snape nodded. Every time he walked into the store Ollivander told him what his wand was. Personally, Snape thought the wandmaker just liked showing off to the kids.

“Yes, a quiet, elegant wand, very good for subtlety, eh? Well, now, you’re here for a wand, yes? And your name is…?”

“Andrea Jeristone.” His hand went to his pocket, and Snape noticed the girl flinch, then relax as she saw that it was a simple tape measure with silver markings. “Let me see. Which is your wand arm?”

“Uh… well, I’m right-handed… so, right?”

Then Ollivander went straight into measuring, starting with her right arm. He stepped away, and the tape measure kept on measuring without him, and he started talking. “Now, Miss Jeristone, every wand has a magical core. Every Ollivander wand has one of three core substances: unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and dragon heartstrings. No wand is the same, just as no unicorn, phoenix, or dragon is the same. You’ll never get the same results with another wizard’s wand, and, of course, the wand chooses the wizard.”

Snape thought that Jeristone was doing a fairly decent job at hiding her panic as the tape measure kept on measuring as Ollivander went from shelf to shelf, taking down boxes.

“That will do,” he said, waving his hand, and the tape measure fell to the floor. “Right then, Miss Jeristone. Try this one. Pine and dragon heartstring, nine and a half inches, brittle.”

He handed the wand to her, and she just held it.

“Well, give it a wave.”

She waved it, and he snatched it from her hand. “No, not that one. Here, willow, phoenix feather, quite bendy.”

This time, she hardly held it before Ollivander took it from her. Snape could see she was quickly getting overwhelmed.

She tried a lot of wands, and every failed one Ollivander put onto the spindly chair that Snape was standing next to.

Then something Snape had never seen before happened. “Red oak and unicorn hair, fourteen inches, slightly yielding.”

Jeristone reached her hand out, but stopped before she took it. “No, tha’ one don’t like me either.”

Ollivander gave her a strange look with those pale eyes. “How do you know?”

She shrugged, not looking at him. “I know what the other ones felt like when I ’eld ’em. This one’s worse.”

Ollivander had been getting happy before, what with how many wands she was trying, but now he looked ecstatic. “Miss Jeristone, are you sensitive to magic?”

“Wha’ do ya mean?”

“When you walked in here, did you feel the magic?”

“Uh… yeah?”

“Did you feel it when you walked into Diagon Alley?"

She nodded, looking confused. She looked over at Snape, who kept his face impassive, despite his own feelings.

"Interesting, interesting... hm... well, what do you see when you look at Gringotts?”

This question caught Snape off guard. What did Gringotts have to do with anything?

Clearly, Jeristone felt the same way. She frowned and said, “Uh, a big white buildin’ with lots a layers o’ color ’round it. Mostly white. Some red and blue.”

If Snape had not been a master of Occlumency, he would have expressed the sheer shock he felt at that statement. _She saw the wards_.

“Miss Jeristone, that means you were able to see the wards surrounding the bank.”

“Is tha’ strange?”

“Perhaps, though many people long for the wish to See as you do.”

“To see?”

“No, _See_ , with emphasis. There is a difference - most can see with their eyes, shapes and colours and people. Most cannot See the wards around Gringotts, or sense the magic in the air. I presume even walking into the Leaky Cauldron was quite the experience, since you have been raised in the Muggle world.”

Jeristone nodded. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure what it was at firs’. Thought I was jus’ -” She stopped suddenly, with a glance towards Snape, then quickly she said, “Is there anything else I’d be able to See?”

“It depends. The wards around and within Gringotts are very strong. If you wish, I can run a test.”

She took a step backward. “Wha’ kinda test?”

Ollivander smiled. “I will cast a special type of spell, and then both you and Professor Snape will tell me what you see. That is, if you’re willing, Professor.”

Snape nodded his acquiescence, looking curiously at Jeristone. With that, Ollivander pulled out his wand, pointed it upward, and said, “Medeis aspectu.”

All Snape saw was the tip of Ollivander’s wand lighting up, similar to a Lighting Charm, but with blue light instead of white. Instead of staring at it, he scanned the girl. She was looking not just at the tip of the wand, but around.

After a moment, the wandmaker dropped the spell. “Professor? What did you see?”

“I saw the tip of your wand light up blue.”

“And nothing else?”

“No.”

Jeristone turned towards him, surprise evident on her face. “Really?”

He nodded.

“And, Miss Jeristone, what did you see?”

“Little - little lines, all ’round. From your chest, right, all along your arm, and in a big circle ’round your wand. All of it was blue and purple and grey. Mostly blue.”

Ollivander nodded. “Now, that is interesting. I believe you have quite the natural talent for Divination magic - specifically Truesight. I’m personally not too familiar with it myself, though I have learned that those who possess the gift of Truesight are far more in tune with magic - providing interesting wands and wand combinations. Which get us back to where we were, and where we need to be! However, with this finding, I believe we can do something far easier and far more interesting, Miss Jeristone. Only, of course, if you’re willing.”

“Wha’ is it?”

He gestured towards the pile of wands he had prepared to hand to her from before. “You go through the wands here and see if any will fit you, and if none do not, you can find one amongst my store.”

It was if her eyes were drawn to the pile, then, “Yeah. I like tha’ idea.”

“Go ahead.”

She walked forward towards the pile of wands, then she picked one up and looked at it.

“That one,” Ollivander said, “is fir and phoenix feather. Eight inches. Pliant.”

“It’s not the righ’ one,” she said, and she put it on the pile of wands on the spindly chair. She tried many more from the pile that Ollivander had initially chosen until she picked one up and just stared at it, holding it for longer than many of the others, but not waving it.

“That one is holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple. A strange combination, and one of the few wands that have a brother. Curious that you picked that one up.”

“I - it’ll be a good wand,” she said. “It’s powerful and important. It don’t like me, and I don’t like it, but - you said it had a brother? I dunno what tha’ means, but… tha’ wand - this one’s brother - it’s also powerful and important, but tha’ one isn’t good. It’s great, but it’s not - it’s not good.”

Ollivander nodded once again. “You’re very right. When a wand has a brother, it has a core from the same creature. This particular phoenix gave only two tail feathers. I sold that wand’s brother, long ago. Yew, thirteen and a half inches, powerful and bound to the forces of life and death. I sold that wand to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”

“Who’s tha’?” she asked.

“A terrible wizard. One who threw Magical Britain into war that stopped nearly a decade ago. He was powerful, and great, yes - but terrible.”

She still stared at it. “There’s somefink else ‘bout it. I dunno… it’s like… it’s got somefink else, too. It seems too - too human.”

There were a few times when Snape had seen Ollivander confused, and this was but the third time that this emotion came over the wandmaker’s face in one day.

“Whatever do you mean, Miss Jeristone?”

“I - it’s - I dunno. All the other ones are alive in a way, and smart in a way, but this one has somefink else, too. I dunno. It’s weird. I don’t like it.” With that, she gently put the holly and phoenix feather wand down on top of the pile on the chair.

Ollivander nodded, still visibly confused but with a strange air of acceptance.

Snape was not _visibly_ confused, as he wouldn’t allow himself to be, but everything about what just happened was confounding. All he had were questions, and no way for them to be answered - yet.

He simply watched as Jeristone went back to going through the wands. Eventually, she discarded every wand in Ollivander’s initial pile, and she was directed down the dusty shelves to find her wand.

Snape followed the two, staying a bit behind so he didn’t interrupt their process. He was very curious about her wand - but he was also fairly uneasy around the holly and phoenix feather wand that was the brother to the Dark Lord’s.

The girl would wander the aisles, picking up wand boxes than putting them back. Snape predicted that this would take a while, but only five minutes later she had a wand box in her hand - the first one that she opened. This wand was a bit crooked, pale yellow in colour.

“Silver lime and dragon heartstring. Twelve inches. Powerful for divination, but somewhat temperamental.”

Jeristone was nodding along, but she had turned her head further down the aisle. As Snape was closer to the storefront, and she was looking towards the back, he had no idea of her expression.

“If you feel there’s a better wand, then there is no need to settle for a decent one,” Ollivander said. Still carrying the wand, she walked down the aisle, quickly as though she had somewhere to get to. At the last set of shelves, the boxes stopped being the typical blue-black that Snape had always seen - most of these were a dusty yellow, though there were a few other, brighter colors. She was looking at one of the wand boxes out of her reach.

Faster than Snape would have expected the old wandmaker to move, he darted back down the aisle, brushing past Snape, then returned with the sliding ladder they had left behind. He pushed it towards Jeristone, who adjusted it, the climbed up halfway to grab a particular box.

Quickly, she glanced over at Snape, then opened the box and pulled the wand out. It was crooked, knobby, unstained, and very old. She waved it, and purple sparks shot from the tip.

Ollivander said, “An unusual wand, one my grandfather made. Hawthorn and augurey feather, twelve and three-quarters inches, quite knobby yet surprisingly swishy.”

Jeristone gave Ollivander a confused look. “What’s an augurey?”

“An augurey, Miss Jeristone, is often called the Irish Phoenix. It used to be believed that their cry would foretell a death, though that has been disproven. As a wand core, they’re quite powerful for Divination magic - but hawthorn has a complex and conflicted nature, one that chooses only those with proven talent, and it is prone to backfiring if you do not take good care of it. I believe this wand only confirms your talents that we saw earlier.”

She stopped suddenly. “How much will it cost?”

He motioned for her to follow him to the front of the store as he replied, “Typically, for such an old wand of very rare materials, I would say fifteen Galleons. However, you are the one who found it - I would not have picked it out nearly as quickly as you did. In addition, you have provided me with a minor prediction about one of my wands, along with something about it’s very making that is unknown even to me, which is invaluable. Therefore - the standard price of seven Galleons.”

Slowly, she nodded. As they passed the place where she picked up the silver lime wand, she put it back. “Thank you. Um, wha’ - wha’ was the minor prediction I gave ya? And the thing about the somefink you don’t know bout it? What’s tha’?”

“That holly and phoenix feather wand you picked up - you told me there was something human about it that none of the other wands had, something I did not know before, and I do not know the meaning of now. And the minor prediction was that it will be powerful and important, and it will be good. Whoever owns that wand will carry it to its legacy, and I will have the pleasure of selling it. If the wand were to choose that person, would you mind if I told them about your prediction?”

She considered it, then said, “No, I don’t mind. If ya wanted, ya could even tell ’im ’bout me. Just - just don’t tell ’im me name. If ’e wants ta talk ta me, then ’e'll find me.”

Ollivander agreed, then gently took both the wand and the box from her. He put the wand back in its box, wrapped it in brown paper, and accepted the seven Galleons from Snape for the wand. As they left the shop, Ollivander bowed deeply, which clearly made Jeristone feel slightly uncomfortable.

As they left, Jeristone looked up at Snape and said, “Sorry, Professor.”

“What for?”

“Havin’ tha’ take so long. It’s already been ’alf the day.”

Snape shook his head. “That was one of the most interesting experiences I have had at Ollivanders, and that was the first time I was able to go beyond the storefront in his shop. The time to find you a proper wand was not wasted, Miss Jeristone, and I think you’ll find that it will do you well.”

She nodded and said, “Thank you.” 

Snape said nothing.

* * *

The rest of the supplies, excluding the books and the trunk, took less time altogether to gather than the experience in Ollivanders. Still, it was getting late - it was already nearly 5:30. Even with the majority of the supplies bought, they still had a hundred and fourteen Galleons left. Jeristone was marking how much was left on her hand using a pen, which got quite a few looks from people in the street.

“We have two options, Miss Jeristone. Either we go to Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore, and purchase your books first, or we go to Travis and Timothy’s Trunks.”

“The books will be more expensive than the trunk, right? But I wanted ta get a book about Divination, so tha’ way I know wha’ it is...”

“We can go back to Flourish and Blotts, if you so choose.”

“Oh, alright. Then let’s go to the bookstore.”

They went to the bookstore. It didn’t take long to find the necessary books, as many people return the books like The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk and A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch. They had gotten lucky - all of the books together were forty-two Galleons, four Sickles, and eighteen Knuts. Snape had seen the basic book supply list cost upwards of eighty Galleons in the past.

He let the girl wander the store for a few minutes after they bought the books - she had done the maths on her hand and found that they had sixty-one Galleons, twelve Sickles, and eleven Knuts left - and he let her wander to try to find a book or two about Divination.

It wasn’t long before she came back. “I found the book I wan’, if there’s enough for it afta the trunk.”

A Muggle-style bell at the door rang as they entered Travis and Timothy’s Trunks. The shop was brightly lit and warmly decorated, with long rows up and down the shop piled with luggage. It had a very open feel, as there were no shelves and the majority of the luggage was hardly above waist height.

There was a desk in the center of the shop where two men were standing - Joseph Travis and Julian Timothy, both of whom Snape recognized as students who had graduated from Hogwarts only two years ago. They were among the first batch of students who knew only him as the Potions Master of Hogwarts.

Both looked up at the bell, and while Travis’s face lit up, Timothy’s face dropped. After a brief moment of hesitation, both walked up to Snape and Jeristone.

“How can we help you, today, Professor?” Travis asked.

“Miss Jeristone needs a trunk. It shouldn’t take too long for her to pick one out.”

“Here,” Timothy said, “I’ll help you look at some. There are the standard trunks - which are the cheapest, but there’s also…”

Snape stopped listening to him as Timothy led Jeristone forward. Travis stayed behind with Snape near the door.

“Um, Professor?” Travis said, turning towards him. “If I may ask, why are you escorting a little girl around Diagon Alley?”

“Introducing Muggle-born and Muggle-raised students to the magical world is part of my duties as Head of House.”

Travis nodded. “I suppose that makes sense. Professor Sprout escorted me and my family. But - if I may be so bold - where are her parents?”

Snape raised an eyebrow, though kept his eyes on the girl as she was being led around by Timothy. “I am not certain.”

“Are they - are they like mine?”

This time, Snape just remained silent.

After a moment, Travis nodded once again. “Okay… well, anyway, I just - I wanted to say thank you.”

Now Snape turned towards him. “Whatever for, Mr. Travis?”

“I know - well, most people aren’t that big a fan of you, especially since you seemed to favor Ravenclaw during Potions for years. But - even though everyone thought you hated Hufflepuff almost as much as Gryffindor, you still noticed, and you - well, you encouraged me to find help. So - so thanks. I never said it before.”

Snape was quiet for a long time before he said, almost in a whisper, “You’re welcome.”

The atmosphere grew awkward, and Snape had no idea of what to say. So, he said nothing and simply observed Timothy lead Jeristone around the store. As they got further away, he strained to hear what they were saying, but he couldn’t discern what they were saying. After a few minutes, Timothy knelt down to speak to Jeristone - and then he stood, picked up the trunk that they were standing in front of, and walked back.

“She has decided on this trunk,” Timothy said, mostly to Travis, “basic, but with a Feather-Light Charm as well as a controlled Shrinking Charm. Thirty Galleons.”

Travis looked at him, surprised, but said nothing. Snape gave both of them a look, then looked down at Jeristone, who had an innocent expression. Did she really talk down the price of the trunk so she could buy a Divination book? He was slightly impressed. He paid for the trunk and the two of them left.

“Miss Jeristone,” he started as they walked down the alley. “Did you ask for a lower price for this trunk?”

“Yeah,” she replied, casually and unabashed. “But I didn’t lie to ‘im. I told ‘im the truth - well, most of it. And I didn’t ask for tha’ much of a discount!”

“And what did you tell him?”

She paused, then said while looking away, “I told ‘im tha’ I was runnin’ low on money, an’ I wanted ta go back ta Flourish and Blotts ta buy a book ta do with me wand, but I needed this trunk ‘cuz I don’ fink me dad would be ‘appy with me if ‘e sees all this.”

Snape added that to the mental list of things that needed to be brought up in the conversation he was going to have with her before he dropped her back off at her home. Now, however, he didn’t mention it. Instead, he said, “I believe it was a good idea not to tell him the specifics about your natural abilities or your wand.”

“I figured tha’ - you and Mr. Ollivander hadn’t seen it a lot before, an’ I didn’t want ta make a big deal of it. But why do you fink it’s a good idea ta keep it a secret?”

“Those who are truly talented at Divination, in any form, are sought after by many of the higher-end… nobles. It’s good money if you choose to pursue that outside or after school, but telling people now may make you a target for people who would want Divination services when you are unprepared.”

Jeristone nodded. “Alright, tha’ makes sense.”

Snape had to stop her before she skittered off as they entered Flourish and Blotts so he could hand her the rest of her money. She thanked him, then to grab the book she wanted and returned shortly after. In her hands she held a massive tome with a white, hardback cover, the image of an elderly woman sitting in a fancy chair and knitting adorning it. The book was called _The Complete Works of the Late Trueseer Thaia Selwyn, World’s Most Accurate Diviner (with Notes by Ministry Seer_ Divone Foggerty _II)_. Snape was slightly surprised that Jeristone went for that instead of something far more eye-catching, such as _Death Omens_ or _The Dream Oracle_.

He was certain that she would be disappointed in it, along with any other Divination book she might find, but it was not his place to tell her what to buy with her money. She paid twenty Galleons for the book, then they left. On a bench outside the store, the two of them put everything inside Jeristone’s new trunk, then she shrunk it down and put it in her pocket.

The Leaky Cauldron, at that point, was quite full and loud, so they just passed right through it. They stopped at a cafe that was somewhat full and somewhat quiet, which was precisely what Snape wanted. An empty restaurant would make it too obvious that they were out of place or awkward.

After they ordered, Snape said, “A few days ago, I meant to speak with you about the school, but I did not. I will make up for it now.

“There are four houses at Hogwarts that the students are Sorted into as soon as they arrive. Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. Each has their virtues and their flaws, though some have more than one over the other. Slytherin is credited for cunning and ambition, but many say that this can go too far and become manipulation and selfishness. Ravenclaw is credited for intelligence and wit, but they can be overly competitive and arrogant. Hufflepuff is credited for hard work and loyalty, but they can be pushovers or mediocre in talents. Gryffindor is credited for bravery, but they have a penchant for rule-breaking and recklessness.

“Your class schedule will be determined by your house. In your first two years, you will have - in alphabetical order - Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Flying Lessons, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration. Starting in your third year, you are allowed to take two elective courses, such as Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, or Muggle Studies. Classes end at four every afternoon, excluding the day that you have Astronomy. Classes then end at three, as you will have to get up at midnight to attend that class.

“The grading system is different from those of Muggle schools, as well: The passing grades are Outstanding, or O; Exceeds Expectations, or E; and Acceptable, or A. The failing grades are Poor, or P; Dreadful, or D; and Troll, or T.

“Any questions so far?”

Jeristone shook her head in the negative, and Snape stopped as they received their dinner from the waitress.

“There is a system of House Points. Do well, and you earn points for your House. Break rules, you lose points for your House. At the end of the year, the House with the most points receives the House Cup.

“There are many extracurricular activities, from the Frog Choir to Advanced Studies - the full list will be available in your House Common Room.

“You are able to go home during Christmas and Easter breaks, but you may apply to stay with the school if you so wish.

“Prefects are the students fifth year and above who have proven themselves to the Headmaster to be very capable and able to lead. They will lead you to your Common Room when you are Sorted, and they can - and will - take points away from any rulebreakers should the teachers not see those rules being broken. The Head Boy and Head Girl are the leaders of the prefects - two seventh year students who have proven themselves to be the most capable of the class to the Headmaster.

“Head of Houses are the teachers who lead the Houses. I am the Head of Slytherin and the Potions Professor. Professor Flitwick is the Head of Ravenclaw and the Charms Professor. Professor Sprout is the Head of Hufflepuff and the Herbology Professor. Professor McGonagall is the Head of Gryffindor, the Transfiguration Professor, and the Deputy Headmistress. If you have any problems that you cannot go to the prefects or Head Boy or Head Girl for, you are to report to your Head of House.

“When you speak to professors or the Headmaster, you should call them ‘Professor’ - or ‘Headmaster,’ if you’re speaking to him - or ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am.’ You should also speak respectfully towards them.

“That’s the overview of Hogwarts. Any questions at all?” A

gain, Jeristone shook her head.

There was a bout of silence that Snape was tempted not to break - but this child had shown behaviors that were typical of those in bad situations, and his duty as a teacher - as well as his own experience - required him to bring it up.

“I also wished to talk to you about something else, though you may stop me at any point.”

At this, she stopped eating and put down her fork. “It’s about me dad, yeah?”

Snape was surprised. “Yes.”

“You can go ahead an’ start, if ya like.”

He raised an eyebrow, but said, “I don’t mean to accuse anyone, but I noticed things that are not usual and I simply would like any explanations you can provide me, as well as what you would like to do if you’re in a situation.”

She nodded.

“The first thing was when I knocked on your door - you spoke about yourself in the third person, in an attempt to make me believe that you weren’t who I was looking for.”

“It’s somefink I’ve seen me dad do. Figured, since I didn’t know ya, I should do the same fing.”

Snape frowned but didn’t comment.

“When you invited me in, you mentioned your father wouldn’t be happy if he woke, as well as when you were buying the trunk, you said that he wouldn’t be happy if he saw your supplies. What happens when your father is unhappy?”

She didn't say anything.

He waited for a moment to see if she would speak. When she didn’t, he moved on. “When we entered the Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley, and Ollivanders, you stumbled and nearly fell. I know now that it was because you’re sensitive to magic, and - correct me if I’m wrong - you were overwhelmed by it. However, while we were in Ollivanders, you said that you ‘thought it was just -’ and then you stopped and looked at me. What did you think it was?”

“'unger.”

“Hunger?”

“Yeah. It’s not easy ta get food when dad has other fings ta pay for.”

He had noticed a great many more things - her flinch when Ollivander went for his pocket, scanning for exits and hiding places in the Leaky Cauldron, her handwriting on the HHI form and not her father’s - but he decided he had already questioned her enough. He just had one more question. “You didn’t speak to me until after we entered Diagon Alley, several minutes after you had heard the word ‘Sickle,’ and when you did, your voice was scratchy. It sounded like you hadn’t been talking for a while.”

“I hadn’ been. Sometimes me dad don’ like talkin’ ta me, and it’s the summer hols. I’m not goin’ ta school yet.”

“And you hadn’t spoken in days?”

“No.”

Snape took a steadying breath. It was far more difficult than he was letting on to talk about this. “Is there anything you would like to do about your situation with your father?”

“Not yet. ‘E’s awful, an’ ‘e don’t take care of me, an’ he only cares ‘bout ‘imself. But I don’t wanna go ta an orphanage or anyfink, an’ it’s not so bad I can’ handle it. If it gets worse, I’ll find a way out - I’ll talk ta you, like Mr. Timothy said, if tha’s okay.”

That was not at all what Snape was expecting. He knew how most kids in these situations reacted - many insisted that their parents loved them and they were just being punished, or they grew defensive or silent. Jeristone herself did that when he asked if she was included in the people her father hurt. He was also thrown off by the ‘Mr. Timothy’ comment. “And what did Mr. Timothy say?”

“‘E said that Mr. Travis ‘ad been in a bad situation wif ‘is parents too, and you ‘elped ‘im. ‘E said that I should expect ya ta turn into a right git if I got Gryffindor, but I didn’ know wha’ tha’ meant ‘til you explained it jus’ now, but tha’ you were the one ta go to if I needed ta get ‘elp.”

In a word, Snape was shocked. He never expected a student, particularly not Julian Timothy, a disrespectful Gryffindor, to recommend someone to go to him for help.

He, of course, did not tell her this, nor show his surprise on his face. They finished their meal in silence, Snape paid, then he provided the funds for her to take the Knight Bus home. Before he summoned the bus for her, however, he said one last thing.

“To get to Hogwarts, you must catch the train at Kings Cross Station on September 1st. It will leave at eleven. It is on Platform 9 ¾. To get there, you must walk through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 - you will be able to walk through without an issue.”

Jeristone nodded and took the ticket, then Snape summoned the bus.

It wasn’t often that Snape got an interesting escorting assignment, and he was glad that his last one of the year was among the most fascinating, as well as someone he would be able to pay attention to throughout her years at Hogwarts.

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of the many OC-centric Harry Potter fics I've had in mind since I was a child, and now I'm finally publishing one of them. 
> 
> I am not a fan of Snape. I actually hate him. But, it makes sense to me that Snape might possibly help out children of abuse who come to Hogwarts if he actually notices or chooses to notice their struggle. There isn't going to be explicit Snape-bashing in this work, even though I hate him, because Andy's POV on the situation is different than mine.


End file.
